Age range

Website: georgia.ja.org

Mission/Goals: Junior Achievement connects the business world with young people in grades K-12 to provide substantive, hands-on, and interactive economic education. JA volunteers go directly into the classroom to share their knowledge and experiences with students who are eager to learn about the world in which they are quickly becoming a part.

Notes: Programs are specifically designed to align with existing school curricula in grades K-12, while additional programs such as BASE (Building Achievement Through Sports and Entertainment) and MESE (Management Economic Simulation Exercise) take unique angles to teach economic fundamentals.

Source(s): www.guidestar.org

Type of Evaluation: Quasi-Experimental

Objective: The study assessed the long-term impact of national Junior Achievement in-school programs on student outcomes.

Impact/Outcomes: JA programs had a statistically significant association with students' attitudes and aspirations regarding education and employment. JA students outperformed non-JA students on school performance indicators such as academic honors and computer skills. JA students also had a significantly better level of understanding of the free enterprise system. JA was also found positively associated with post high school outcomes in areas such as post-secondary education, employment and general life aspirations/attitudes. For example, JA students were more likely to go to college immediately following high school, they were more confident about their educational abilities, and were more likely to have a positive self-concept, relative to the comparison sample.